ASA reports five-year decrease in number of gambling ads seen by children
UK’s advertising regulator reveals children viewed 3.2 gambling ads per week on average in 2018
The number of gambling ads seen by children on UK television fell to 3.2 per week in 2018 from a peak of 4.4 in 2013, according to latest figures from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Despite the significant five-year decrease, 2018 rates were higher than in 2008 (2.2 per week average) during the first year in which gambling ads were broadcast on UK television.
The majority of televised gambling marketing viewed by children since 2011 has come from the bingo, lottery and scratchcard verticals.
Gambling ads made up 2.2% of all adverts viewed by children in the UK last year.
The ASA reports that children saw an average of one gambling ad on TV for every five seen by adults throughout 2018, while exposure rates fell from 38.6% in 2008 to 20.4% in 2018.
Children’s exposure to all television adverts decreased by 38.1% from a peak of 229.3 ads per week in 2013 to a low of 141.9 in 2018.
The decrease is a result of changes in children’s viewing habits over the years, as more shift from conventional television to online media and streaming.
Children’s exposure to gambling ads is expected to decrease even further next year as a result of the whistle-to-whistle ban on sports betting advertising.